1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to ladder attachments and, more particularly, is concerned with a scaffold apparatus for attachment to a step ladder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ladders are often needed for a user to access the walls and roof of a variety of buildings including, but not limited to, residential homes. Many roofs, however, have overhangs which extend outwardly beyond the plane of the wall supporting them from below. Roof overhangs make it difficult for a user to reach the top surface of the roof for shingling and the like and to reach the edge of the roof for working on a gutter and the like. This is due to the fact that ladders often must lean against the wall under the roof overhang such that a user on or near the top step or rung of a ladder is placed into an awkward position for reaching the edge or top surface of the roof. It is further difficult for the user to paint a wall when the ladder must be supported directly against the wall to be painted. Thus, it is often desirable for the user standing on or near the top step or rung of the ladder to be spaced outwardly away from the wall which is supporting the ladder. It may also be desirable for the user to have a receptacle for holding tools, paint cans and the like in close proximity to the region of the ladder upon which the user is standing.
A variety of devices which are attachable to ladders have been proposed over the years to resolve the above-mentioned difficulties. Representative examples of these prior art ladder attachment devices and the like are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,840,291 to Becker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,028,929 to Chubbs, U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,142 to Butler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,854 to Terwilliger, U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,462 to Courtney, U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,569 to Grenier, U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,860 to Beane, U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,945 to Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,274 to Tataseo and U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,994 to Hughes, Sr. Each of the above-listed patents, however, disclose devices which have one or more of the following problems associated with them: high cost, time consuming and tedious to install onto and/or remove from the ladder, applicable only to rung ladders and/or have undue complexity of construction.
Consequently, a need still exists for an apparatus which provides a solution to the aforementioned problems in the prior art without introducing any new problems in place thereof.